For the Self-Righteous

“And he spoke this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.” (Luke 18:9)

I heard about a man who, every Sunday morning without fail, met the preacher at the door of the church after the sermon had been preached with these words: “Preacher, you really hit them this morning.”

On a particular Sunday evening the only people who showed up for worship were the pastor and that self-righteous man.  The preacher thought, “I’m going to preach to this man tonight. He can’t evade it, and I can’t miss.  The preacher preached about an hour, mentioning every sin which he knew this fellow had committed and continued to commit, while calling for repentance at the end of each point.  True to form, this fellow met the pastor at the door after the benediction and said, “Preacher, I tell you, if they had been here tonight you would have hit the nail square on the head.” 

That is who Jesus directed this parable to; the self righteous who thought they were guiltless, good and going to heaven because of their goodness.  When we have known sins in our lives, be it pride, self righteousness or some other, God expects confession and repentance from us. God has not given us the task of confessing the sins of other folks.

More tomorrow.